Get the latest movie theater news!

Theaters Wanted

I purchase and restore old theaters. If you know of any theaters that are closed down and are for sell, please contact me as I am always buying theaters to restore and re-open. If you would like to see your old home town movie theater re-opened, please drop me a line. I also am always purchasing theater equipment. If you have any projectors, platters, popcorn machines, or any other theater equipment, please contact me.

Comments (5)

Chris, if you are serious about restoring old theatres/cinemas, more power to you, but I am afraid that there are many THOUSANDS of venues that are available, but not necessarily good investments. Something tells me that you are really only interested in suburban or small town multiplexes built after about 1970, but if perchance you are also interested in closed movie palaces, there are a number that you could try, depending upon how much you are realistically willing to invest in repairs and rehabilitation. The best place to find a list of available (as in “closed”) places, is the CINEMAS link at the site: www.CinemaTour.com . When you click on that link there, you will be asked what country in the world you want, and then what state. In Wisconsin where I live, there are over 450 theatres listed, most of them closed. They also give the street addresses, but that is often not helpful since rarely is there anyone at a closed site to receive any mail, and such is often no longer delivered there. If a place looks interesting (depending upon size, age, etc.) you might contact the local chamber of commerce or the city clerk’s office (address/phones available from you local library) and ask for the current owner’s name and address which is also always kept with the local property tax assessor’s office and should be a matter of public record —so they should give it to you on request. Some municipalities have such property tax files on-line, so do a Google search for the city in question. Once you have identified a site as of interest, look it up here on Cinema Treasures for more insight which may tell you why it closed, when, and in what condition it now stands.

I know that here in the Milwaukee area there are at least two former movie palaces that are for sale, one of them, the AVALON, a designated local landmark, with no parking nearby, its hopes for the future are dim, with the current owner threatening to turn it into offices. The other, the former WARNER/GRAND, should be a landmark by any stretch of the imagination, but its owner, Marcus Theatres, has twice vetoed that, and closed it in ‘95 and is just letting it sit there until their lease on the land runs out in 18 years. They are paying about $30,000 yearly in taxes on it, so should be happy to get rid of it and the 12-story surrounding office/commercial building. It is a glorious decor, but anyone buying it for films will have to create parking on its downtown site, by buying the lot next door and building a parking structure on it, else Milwaukeeans will go to the free parking of the suburban multiplexes, as do people in every city. If you are serious about purchasing either of them, E-mail me by clicking on my name below, and I will give you names/addresses of the owners. To be sure, there are other open or closed theatres hereabouts, but I feel that only these two are really available and have a potential for the right guy — if you can beat the parking problem (which is a major reason that most inner city movie palaces failed); Americans are not accustomed to public transport, nor to walking more than ten yards to the theatre’s door! Best Wishes and keep us posted on your acquisitions, please.

Bad news: The local newspaper reported (and the economic development officer confirmed it) that “Chris Major” has gone to jail. It was not theatre related. It had to do with child support and other domestic issues. Check out the newspapers in Havana. He was extradited to Missouri. I am sad that another theatre is empty but several of us are trying to keep the place alive.